DIY Homemade Yogurt
Have you ever tried making your own homemade yogurt? This detailed post will give you all of the tools you need to make it yourself at home!
I have to tell you that since moving to our tiny little town stuck in the Northern reaches of Minnesota, I’ve realized that if I don’t start getting in touch with the inner reaches of my resourceful soul (I swear, it’s in here somewhere), I’m going to be in big trouble.
Mainly because I don’t have the same access to groceries and “things” that I used to have. Let’s face it – I was spoiled. Big time.

And now my family is learning the true meaning behind the phrase “make it do or do without” or rather “make it ourselves or do without” in our food-loving case.
I’m not saying we can’t buy stuff; we can. But I don’t have the luxury of seventeen flavors of organic, Greek yogurt staring me in the face at the store. Which brings me to this post. In fact, I’m so excited to share it with you that my fingers may or may not be shlowken…I mean, shaking.
In the last three months, I’ve made this DIY yogurt nearly weekly.
I wanted to really have the method perfected before sharing it with you, and I can honestly say I am as sold on making this yogurt as a regular part of our lifestyle as I am making all of our bread, which was a huge leap for me when I first started over three years ago but now seems like second nature.
Once you get the hang of it, this yogurt is practically mindless. I have it down to a science.
I know that by starting it by 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon, I’ll be ready to pop it in the oven for an overnight rest by 10:00 or 11:00 and it will be strained and devour-able by 2:00 the next afternoon.
Besides taking the yogurt’s temperature (think of it as a beloved child you are nurturing) and moving it from point A to point B, this couldn’t be simpler.
When I initially tried it, I figured it would be kind of neat-o and novel to make my own yogurt. But I didn’t count on the absolute delicious, creaminess of this yogurt. In my opinion, it beats out any storebought yogurt I’ve ever had – Greek or regular. And if you live in the boonies like I do where grocery prices are a little bit inflated, it’s very cost efficient to make it yourself.
I’ve included a step-by-step tutorial along with the recipe. And I’ve added lots and lots of notes to the recipe in order to help you along (basically my finds after dozens of times making this) so please settle in and read through it all.
It’s riveting and educational and it will make you smarter while changing your life.
Ok, not really to any of those things, but seriously…get on the yogurt making bandwagon! You’ll definitely be the cool kid in town, no doubt about it, and I’ll be here to hold your hand through the journey. Promise.
DIY Homemade Yogurt
Ingredients
- 1 gallon milk
- ½ to 1 cup nonfat dry milk powder, optional
- ½ cup plain yogurt with live and active cultures, look at the ingredient list to make sure it includes Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus
- Fruit syrup, if desired (recipe below)
Instructions
- Pour one gallon of milk into a 5-quart slow cooker, leaving enough room for 1-2 cups more liquid. See the note above for adjustments if you are working with a larger or smaller slow cooker or pan. Whisk a cup or so of milk into 1/2 to 1 cup powdered milk until the mixture is smooth. The powdered milk is optional but adds protein and creaminess. Pour or strain the powdered milk mixture into the slow cooker. Cover the slow cooker and heat on low until the mixture reaches 180 degrees F (in my slow cooker, this takes about 2-3 hours, although each slow cooker will heat a bit differently). Remove the slow cooker insert and let the milk cool to between 112 and 120 degrees F. Too warm or too cool and the milk won’t culture into yogurt. Without any stirring to help cool, it takes 1-2 hours for the milk to cool. Stirring will help the milk cool more quickly.
- Once the milk has cooled to that temperature range, measure out 1/2 cup plain yogurt (Greek or regular) in a small bowl and whisk in 1 or so cups of the warm milk into the yogurt. Whisk the yogurt/milk mixture into the warm milk. Now lay out a standard size bath towel and place the covered slow cooker in the center. Fold up each side until it makes a neat little towel wrapped package and the slow cooker is completely insulated. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Once the oven is fully preheated, turn it off. Turn the oven light on. This will help maintain the warmth of the oven while the yogurt cultures. Place the towel-wrapped slow cooker into the warm oven. Let the wrapped pot sit in the warm oven for 8-12 hours. The idea is to keep the milk/yogurt mixture in the 112-118 degree range for that period of time. It is what cultures the milk and turns it into yogurt.
- After 8 or so hours, remove the pot, take off the bath towel and take off the lid. The mixture should be very thick and set and it may have a layer of clear liquid on the top (whey). If it is still too liquidy, return it to the warm oven for a longer period of time. If you think your oven may not be holding warmth, you may need to preheat it to 250 degrees and then turn it off every couple of hours but usually just keeping the oven light on after preheating it once should do the trick.
- Once the milk has successfully cultured and turned to yogurt, line a colander or strainer with cheesecloth and set it over a large pot or bowl. Pour the yogurt into the strainer. It may be lumpy but as long as it’s thick, it will strain just fine. Using lowfat milk will produce more whey and the yogurt will need more straining time; using whole milk will produce less whey and you may not even need to strain it at all. Place it in the refrigerator and let it drain for 4-6 hours. There will be quite a bit of whey in the pot or bowl. Discard this liquid. Scrape the yogurt off the cheesecloth into a bowl or other container. Whisk to recombine the yogurt. My yogurt, at this point, looks almost like cottage cheese and has little lumps no matter how much I whisk it, so I pour it into my blender and blend it for a few seconds (too long and it will become runny). The yogurt can be stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks. If you want to continue making yogurt like this, reserve 1/2 cup of the yogurt to use as a starter in your next batch.
Notes
Recommended Products
Yogurt Inspiration: Taken from Annie’s Eats and Jillee, among many other sources and sites around the internet
I tried this recipe this weekend and it turned out great! I used 1% milk and heated it on the stovetop. Mine was not lumpy after straining it, so I didn’t need to run it through the blender. It tastes just like plain greek yogurt. So good! Thank you!
Do you think the bread proof setting on my oven would work for this?
Lien4424 – does it give you a temp? I’m thinking it’s probably right around the correct temp but I’d look for an official one before trying because you don’t want the yogurt to go either above or below the range (110-120 degrees F).
Mel, Back when we were still milking our cow (she has since calved and now just has calves on her instead), I was making yogurt like crazy just to use up all the milk we had coming out our ears. Feeling nostalgic (ha!) I made a couple batches after you posted this, albeit with store-bought milk. I loved your suggestion of heating the milk in the crock-pot. I always had such a hard time keeping it from scorching on the stove top because I would get distracted with kids or something else. My previous method had also included putting the heated and then cooled milk into a gallon thermos over night. Keeping the insulated crock pot in the oven worked just as well and I didn’t have to wash the thermos afterward. Anyway, thanks for the yogurt-making tips.
i am making my own yogurt every week thanks to this recipe 🙂 i am now trying to convert everyone-because it is so delicious! thank you so much for all your research and wonderful instructions.
Just letting you know Mel.. I finally tried this! Love it! I still like my jar method for when I have time to stand over the stove… but the last two times I’ve made yogurt I needed your method. Perfect both times! Love straining it for the thick Greek yogurt too. Thank you for always turning out perfect recipes 🙂
My crockpot took 7 hours to heat the milk!! I totally forgot it had to cool, so I was cursing this yogurt while I was stirring it at midnight last night. I swore I would never do this again. But this morning when I took it out of the oven I changed my mind! Now I’m just waiting for it to strain a few hours. I’m going to try heating it on my stovetop next time. Thanks for the detailed post, it really helped!
My crockpot took 7 hours to heat the milk!! I totally forgot it had to cool, so I was cursing this yogurt while I was stirring it at midnight last night. I swore I would never do this again. But this morning when I took it out of the oven I changed my mind! Now I’m just waiting for it to strain a few hours. I’m going to try heating it on my stovetop next time. Thanks for p
I’ve tried that before many times. I think that it’s the sugar that doesn’t allow the yogurt to properly set. The yogurt consistency is like snot everytime.
I’ve been making a gallon of yogurt twice a week for years and a couple of years ago found a great trick that keeps the whole process down to about 6 hours from start to finish.
To avoid fiddling with an oven and water baths etc., after adding the culture to the tepid milk, i wrap the pot with a towel and then place it in a sleeping bag, wrapping the bag around the pot a couple of times for maximum insulation. Four to five hours later the yogurt is set and ready to be chilled and strained. The temperature only drops between 5 and 7 degrees over the four hour period.
I also prefer just to bite the bullet and stir the gallon of milk continuously over high heat. It takes 10 minutes to reach 180. Then if I really am in a hurry, i cool it to 115-118 in the fridge, which takes about 30 minutes. Then stir in the culture and into the sleeping bag it goes. 4 to 5 hours later it’s good to go.
No one should be wasting money buying yogurt, except to use as a starter.
Vanilla Yogurt….Sparky asked about vanilla yogurt. I just had an idea about that. You can infuse a vanilla pod into sugar. Then add the sugar to sweeten the yogurt.
Thank you for the recipe and instructions. I tried a different method last night they may be of use. I poured my milk in mason jars first. I heated them on the stove in a water bath. When they reached 180 I removed them to cool. When 118 I added the yogurt culture and transferred jars to a small cooler. Inside the cooler was an additional mason jar with boiling water wrapped in a thin dish cloth. I did this to maintain the temperature during incubation. In the morning I swapped out the mason jar lids for a coffee filter and turned the jars upside down to strain. I will let it strain for a few hours then add the sweetened fruit directly to the jar. I haven’t read everyone’s comments so I apologize if this is a repeat. Thank you again for the recipe and the wonderful blog.
I am in the process of making this, but it took me five hours in my crock pot to get up to 180! I even put it on high for the end. I don’t know why, it is a new crock pot. Would high the whole time need stirring do you think? I loved the ease of not worrying about it, maybe I’ll just have to plan five hours then for warm up 🙁
Bree – that does seem like a long time but each crockpot can vary in temperature. Cooking on high can burn the milk (especially on the bottom of your crockpot) – at least in mine. When my crockpot cooks on high, it actually simmers a bit and you don’t want the milk to get that hot.
I used organic whole milk, made half gallon at a time, and got almost a liter of whey when I drained it. I think that it is definitely cost effective as a gallon gets 21 “cartons” of organic greek yogurt, which costs me $26, and the gallon of organic milk plus the starter was only $8! Plus I know what sweetners are going into it, and I can control the flavor! Thanks so much Mel for sharing this recipe!!!
oops…make that “Make” the Bread, Buy the Butter
I too recently came across Jennifer Reese’s “Bake the Bread, Buy the Butter” book. I’ve only made the yogurt twice but plan on making all of our yogurt. I bought the Norpro and Kinderville ice pop molds to make my 3 year old’s frozen go-gurts…he likes to eat them frozen. I’ve only tried once and it seems to work.
http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-431-4-Piece-Silicone-Maker/dp/B0036B9KHO/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1363269608&sr=1-3&keywords=ice+pop+molds
http://www.amazon.com/Kinderville-Little-Bites-Ice-Molds/dp/B002YVGNHC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363269581&sr=8-2&keywords=kinderville+silicone
I want to make a rhubarb curd/syrup. I suppose it can be done with the same recipe? When we were in England we had THE BEST yogurt ever (sold at Sainsburys). It was like rhubarb custard!
Thanks Mel for another great recipe. I’ve made this several times and had great results. However last night I forgot to add the yogurt to culture it. This morning I realized my mistake. Think I can add it now and repeat the last step or do I risk making everyone in my house sick??? Any advice would be appreciated!
Kathryn – oh, bummer! If it were me, I’d feel better being safe and starting over. I am overly paranoid about bacteria in food, though. Have you tried googling? I wonder if anyone else has done the same thing and saved it. Good luck!
If you had a keep warm function on your crockpot, would that work instead of putting it in the oven????
Nadine – it’s all about maintaining the temperature so as long as the warm function does that, it should work. You want to keep the yogurt in the 110 to 120 F range for 8-10 hours.
Mel~Thanks again for making me feel like a kitchen rock star!! I was so proud of myself for making yogurt! I kept telling my hubby over & over how excited I was (nerdy!). It was so creamy & delicious. I made it on friday and it is wednesday and it is almost gone (shared some w/ my mother-in-law too).
The only thing I did different was use a heating pad on low on the countertop instead of the oven overnight. I also got busy & let it “cook” on the counter for 13 hrs. It strained for 8 hrs (b/c I was at work) and despite all of my delays…it still turned out perfect! I just blended it in the food processor with some of the whey to make it a nice creamy consistency. And I used coffee filters cuz I didn’t have cheese-cloth.
I’ve been using it in my fruit smoothies in the AM, adding my lemon-flavored stevia drops (amazing!) (www.nunaturals.com) to it w/ a few sunflower seeds. For my kids, I add honey & they use it as fruit dip. Yummy!
Also, for the whey, I used it in your whole wheat oatmeal pancake mix w/ some of the yogurt. Perfect! I haven’t been doing much baking (trying to lose weight), so I used it to water my plants (read it online). So far, they aren’t dead yet…haha!
Thanks so much for helping me conquer this fear! I will never go back to store-bought!
I just got done trying the recipe. SO YUMMY and CREAMY!! I loved it!! Thanks for sharing! It was a fun miracle to watch the milk turn into yogurt. I may never go back =). THANKS for all of the delicious recipes! I love your blog!!!!! And use it every day!
I have also heard that the whey can be used in place of buttermilk. I’ve been experimenting with different ways to make yogurt for the past year. I just tried your method, but my crockpot took almost 6 hours to get to 180 degrees. Next time I’ll have to place it on a higher setting — obvious, I should’ve just turned it up in process but there was a lot going on. Another method that’s worked for me is putting a gallon of milk straight into 4 mason jars and then into a large pot on the stovetop filled with water up to the neck of the jars. I boil the water until the milk inside the jars reaches 180 degrees, then cool off to 120. Stir in my starter, place plastic canning lids on the jars and put into my oven overnight with the light on. I haven’t used a towel with this method but maybe that would be better? I also don’t strain it (although I was using whole milk and really didn’t need to). This method works great ’cause the yogurt is already in smaller containers for storing. It doesn’t work great if you are letting it culture in the middle of the day with the plastic lids on and forget it’s in your oven when you’re preheating it for dinner …
Sparky – I’ve never tried the vanilla homemade yogurt so I don’t know why you are having textural issues but it’s definitely on my radar to try soon so I’ll let you know how it goes when I try it.
Mel,
I’m hoping you can help. I would love to find a way to make homemade vanilla yogurt. (The good kind using a vanilla pod). I’ve tried many recipes and no matter what I do, the consistency turns out like snot. Help please!
I’ve made it twice now and my only complaint is that we eat it too fast! It is so delicious, my kids are always begging for more! I am excited to try heating the milk up on the stove though to shorten the process a bit. Also, the second time I made it i strained it for too long so I just added some of the whey back in until it was the right consistency. I’ve also used the whey to make bread and rolls and I love how they turned out as well. Thanks for all of the instructions!
I just wanted to add my review. My husband and I made this together two days ago, and it’s already almost gone!! I can’t believe that my kids and my hubby are eating it without complaint, and even asking for it. They won’t touch store-bought Greek yogurt. Thank you for such a fantastic recipe/method. It worked so well and I’ll definitely be making it again! 🙂
I have been making yogurt for years, and I keep simplifying the process. One note, I always use ultrapasteurized milk, as that the my only organic option, and I have NEVER had a problem getting it to thicken. I add powdered milk, (just stir it right in), then I just heat it in the microwave to 115-118 (since it’s already ultrapasteurized and hermetically sealed, there is no rouge bacteria to kill!) and then stir in the culture and put it in the oven (warmed and turned off) with the light on overnight. If there is a lot of whey, I spoon it off, but then I whisk in 1/2 packet instant vanilla pudding to thicken it and sweeten it just a little. My family loves it! And when I have strained it to greek yogurt (no pudding added) it is the most creamy, delicious greek yogurt ever – so much better than storebought!
So…I tried making the yougurt this way, and I have to say, I don’t think I will do it again. I really wanted to like it better! It took FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!! Too many steps in my opinon. I will go back to the stove top method and then just pouring it into jars and putting it in a cooler with hot water. Even if you wanted it a bit thicker, I would still think it would be easier to strain them as needed. When I do it the stovetop way, it takes barely any time or fuss, and it lasts for at least a month in my fridge. I am so glad it works this way for other people, but I thought it required a lot more time and thought. I’m still glad I tried it out though!
Here’s a good website for a few ideas on what to use leftover whey in.
http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/recipes-with-yogurt/18-ways-to-use-whey-a-by-product-of-greek-yogurt
There are plenty more on professor google 🙂
FYI on the use of Mason Jars… I realized that most of you are using commercial milk to make this yogurt.. something I have noticed in all the recipes that use comm. milk is that they all talk about mopping up the whey or straining the whey.. I use RAW milk and I can use the quart size jars with out a lot of whey mop up. So if you try the quart jar method, beware you may still have a lot of whey 🙂
I just made yogurt last night! I tried to make homemade yogurt a couple years ago from instructions on a crockpot blog that I shall not mention. 😉 It turned out awful and was a waste of money! I just had to try your instructions because everything I make of yours is great! And this didn’t disappoint! I used 2% milk and placed it in the fridge right from the oven this morning. I had very little whey, so I just stirred it in. The consistancy is great! I am going to make a peach “stir-in” from frozen peaches and this will be our afternoon snack! I also used a half gallon of milk and half the other ingredients since we won’t eat it all before it goes bad. It made two full quart mason jars.
I really cannot believe you convinced me to make yogurt. I have seen it on all the money-saving blogs & large family blogs but I just didn’t understand why we would spend so much time on making yogurt. Anyway, I started my yogurt yesterday afternoon, used 2%milk & milk powder. I read all the comments & heated the milk on the stove then wrapped in in a towel & set it on a heating pad on the counter for 11 hours. My yogurt turned out thick & tart. My 4 kids & I just ate it for breakfast with bananas & homemade granola!! Thank you so much, it was very simple. Now what can we do with all this whey besides in bread dough?
Army of 7 – several people have suggested using it in place of buttermilk also.
I made this and it WORKED! I feel like I’ve done some kind of magic! I used 2% milk and it turned out fine. I could only leave it in the oven about 6 hours to culture, but I think it turned out great anyways!
Thanks for taking the time to figure this out and share with all of us- my husband has been going through yogurt like crazy and this is much cheaper!
Whitney – what kind of milk did you use (skim, 1%, etc.). I get quite a bit of whey, also, so I don’t think it’s a huge cause for concern. You might try straining for less time if you find the yogurt is thicker than you would like – that will reduce the amount of whey.
This was DELICIOUS! I can’t believe how easy and inexpensive it was (except for the fact that we’ll probably be eating a lot more yogurt!). Thanks for a wonderful tutorial. You really streamlined the process; I love using the slow cooker through the whole thing. When I’ve seen it on other blogs it’s seem too complicated to try, but this was easy and wonderful the first time through! I also loved the fruit syrup recipe!
I just put my first batch into the fridge. It looks wonderful but I had like 8 cups of whey. Is that normal? If not, what might have caused this. Did I do something wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Did you melt the handle off of your slow cooker lid? I ask because it looks just like mine 🙂 and I have to use a meat fork to help me lift the lid.
Yogurt is just cooling now, and that stirring really speeds that process along, as well as avoiding the slimy skin from forming. Thanks for this lesson!
BarabarO – good eyes! No, I didn’t melt mine…it got knocked off the counter years ago and broke off (thankfully the glass part of the lid survived)!
LOVE this! I have a friend who does this with the raw milk she gets and I am so jealous I might have to just start trying. I know everyone is commenting about the nutritional value about the Whey, I just wanted to add my two cents, that it is REALLY important part of yogurt, because it is where the Calcium is … so please try to find a way to use it because women & children especially need lots of Calcium. So even though Greek yogurt is higher in Protein, it is lower in Calcium. So just make sure there is Calcium somewhere in our diets :o)
Mel,
I have been making my own yogurt for a couple of years now. We live on a island of only about 7,000 people and the products that we can get are really limited or really expensive. Fresh milk is really expensive (sometimes it $5 USD for 1 quart). I make my yogurt completely with non-fat milk powder, adding extra milk powder for creaminess.
I use my yogurt for regular eating, in place of buttermilk in recipes, and I use it to make yogurt cheese. Yogurt cheese is similar to cream cheese, but I can add flavors such as garlic and italian seasoning. If you are interested in a recipe let me know.
I can’t believe I made yogurt. I am a yogurt-maker! I am going to try again with a shorter incubation time as it was a little too sour. I had to leave it in for 12 hours because it was a crazy morning and I couldn’t get to it. So, I used it in your tzatziki recipe and it was amazing! The texture was perfect, and that is the best recipe for tzatziki I have ever made. Scratch that– the best tzatziki I have ever tasted!
Made this last night – Holden took over when he got home, partly b/c he loves a good experiment I think, and partly because he was worried I wasn’t doing it right. I was happy to hand it over. Anyway, it seemed pretty easy and turned out great I think. I didn’t strain it initially, but I’m straining it now since it seemed more liquidy than i wanted. I’m planning to use the whey to ferment something – another new experiment! Thanks this was fun, I had just seen someone else’s recipe that I was going to try when you posted yours’, funny how you read everyone’s mind!
Hey Mel,
Just thought you might like to know (being the frugal, mom-of-5, breadmaker you are, just like myself) that you can use that whey to replace some or all of the water in your home-made bread. Then the nutrients (and money you spent on the milk) go in the bread instead of down the drain! I’ve done it several times when yogurt (or cheese) making day has coincided with bread making day, and we can’t tell the difference. And I always feel good about not wasting all that whey. You should try it!
ps. for non-breadmakers, I’ve also heard you can use the whey to make kool-aid, but we aren’t kool-aid drinkers, so I’ve never tried it, therefore can’t vouch for that one!
I have heard that many people use a heating pad to maintain temperature during incubation rather than the oven light option. So if your oven light is unreliable or some such, that might be another possibility. Good luck!
Just enjoyed my first bowl of this delicious concoction. Like you, we eat yogurt by the ton here and this will change our lives! I love the texture, I love how easy it is to make and I love that it’s less sour than store bought yogurt. I really like the crockpot method because it requires no babysitting, I just inserted my thermometer timer and it beeped when it reached temp. Thanks so much for the detailed method and pictures, Mel, you are awesome!
Just checking back in to let everyone know, I’ve made this twice already since posting it (I’m telling you, we eat the stuff like crazy). One of those times I heated the milk on the stovetop instead of the slow cooker to save time and it was great (although the slow cooker takes the guesswork and possible scorching out of the equation). Both times this week, I also poured the cultured milk into quart size canning jars, capped them with lids and rings and put them in the warm oven for 4-8 hours (without covering in a towel). It worked great! Even though it meant more jars to clean instead of one slow cooker pot, I felt like it cultured more quickly. And finally, I am pretty convinced that if you are using a lowfat milk (I use 1%) you really need to strain the yogurt (1-4 hours is perfect straining time, in my book, I strained one batch overnight and it was so thick, I had to add a lot of milk to get the right texture). I tried not straining it after using the quart jars for incubation and it just didn’t jive for me – the texture was all wrong. Many of the reviews who say straining isn’t necessary are using whole milk, which is great, but may produce a different result than lowfat milk, which is how I’ve always made it. I’ll test out the whole milk yogurt in the next few months as baby Cam starts eating yogurt and needs the full fat content, but for now, lowfat milk can still produce extremely thick, creamy yogurt – it just needs to be strained first.
Also, although reviews are mixed on using nonfat dry milk or not, I have to add my two cents that I’ve made it without and highly prefer it in – both for protein content and creaminess. I don’t add it to make the yogurt thicker (that depends on straining time, in my opinion), but I love how it enriches the yogurt. That’s just our taste preference, however. I use organic nonfat dry milk and so while it does increase the cost a bit, it’s worth it for how we like our yogurt. Just something to think about. Everyone will have a different preference.
Thanks for everyone who has left tips. Valuable info for all of us! Who knew homemade yogurt could be so exciting (insert nerd alert)…so grateful to everyone who has shared their expertise.
I love the timed out steps of this plan! I make my yogurt on the stovetop, and knowing how long each step takes makes this so easy. I make mine in mason jars in a yolife yogurt maker ($45 on amazon). i like that there are so many different ways to make yogurt and still have a fabulous end product. A couple comments based on my 3 years making yogurt.
1) If you are having trouble with your yogurt not getting tart enough, even with long incubation, try using less starter, and switching brands of plain yogurt starter if you can. I had trouble with this after moving back from overseas, and discovered that i needed to use less starter. if there is too much starter, the probiotics compete too much for the same food and some die out. I use the Fage full fat plain yogurt as my starter. I buy the smallest size, and use half the container for my 10 cups of milk. I freeze the second half for the next time I need a fresh starter.
2) you can use your yogurt as a starter, but most places I have looked say that 5 ‘generations’ is the max, meaning that after using your yogurt 5 times, like once a week for 5 weeks, you need a fresh batch of store yogurt (or powdered starter, or frozen plain yogurt from your first generation).
3) I am surprised no one says they refrigerate their yogurt before using or straining. Maybe it is unnecessary, but when I was figuring out how to do this, all my sources said to refrigerate the yogurt after it is done incubating, but BEFORE you disturb it in anyway. Don’t move it to a new container, don’t strain it. Just stick it in the fridge for 24 hours. This is supposed to help your yogurt stabilize and thicken, and should make added thickeners like gelatin and milk powder unnecessary. I make mine in quart mason jars so it is easy to refrigerate. I use whole organic milk and never add anything but the starter until I am ready to eat it. It comes out very thick.
4) careful using powdered milk, which is still a processed product, and still costs money. Luckily you can still get fabulous results, even if you don’t use it, or run out, or just can’t find it at your store.
5) for those that want to use other milks, or non-milks to make yogurt, check out culturesforhealth.com. They have great instructions on how thinks like coconut milk or soy or almond milk behave when culturing, and what you might want to do a little differently. They also are a great source for specialized starters.
5) lastly, if you can make yogurt, you can make Awesome frozen yogurt. Just strain your yogurt as long as you can stand, like a full day, and then mix the yogurt cheese you made with agave, honey or maple syrup and some vanilla, and then freeze it in your ice cream maker (if you are lucky) or in Popsicle molds of some kind. If it is fully frozen, let it soften a bit before serving. Take that, Yogurt Land!
I love all the comments on this post! I’ve been making this recipe for yogurt for about 6 months and it is yummy! I use whole milk (still have babies who need the fat for brain development.. and come on, it tastes better!) 🙂 I have tried adding a bit of sugar and vanilla during the process because my kids love vanilla yogurt, and it turns out fine. I tried brown sugar because I like the flavor better, but brown sugar made it gooey and sticky! It was gross. I haven’t been straining it, but I’ll try it now to see the difference. For what it’s worth, I wrap it in 3 towel and leave on the counter. After it sets up, I pour off the whey and put the whole crockpot in the fridge overnight. It seems to thicken more if I do this before stirring or scooping it. In the morning I put into 4 quart jars. Super easy and tasty!!
Thanks for all your awesome recipes! I love your blog!
Mel…try doing it on the stove top heating the milk to 190 then letting cool to 120. Add your starter(I usually do a cup) then pour into mason jars and put in a cooler. Pour heated water(120 degrees) up to the “shoulders” of the jar. I take it out after about 4 hours or so. You would still have to strain if you want it thicker, however, I have never added the powdered milk to it, so maybe that would help with the thickness. This way, I can do it in the morning while I’m cleaning up breakfast etc…and then not think about it again until I put it in the fridge. I don’t know if it saves me money, but I think it does, and as you said it’s just the coolness factor of knowing how to make it!
Also, I think it lasts wayyyy longer than a week. You’ll know if it’s expired!
Some have also told me that the whey can be used to water plants. I’ve poured it on a spot of my grass needing some help and I think it worked!
Thanks for your amazing recipes!
Tommie – it all kind of depends on how thick your yogurt and/or syrup is. I often stir the syrup into the yogurt and store it that way but if my yogurt isn’t quite as thick as previous batches, I’ll just dollop some of the fruit on top before serving.
One more thing I forgot to add, but was reminded of when reading the comments. If you like a milder flavored yogurt, keep your incubation time closer to the 8 hour mark. If you like it more tart, aim for an incubation time of 12 hours. I have been making my own yogurt for about two years now and the only time I have had to throw it out was when I attempted to experiment with flavored yogurt. I found out that simple is best and add the fun stuff later! My kids love it served with homemade jam or just a little bit of honey and some granola. Yum!
It’s finished, and it’s amazing!! I had no idea it could be that creamy! I made the strawberry syrup for it, and now I can’t wait for my kids to come home and try it! My only question is can you stir up the syrup in with it now, or should you just spoon a little bit on top as you go? I was worried it might get runny stirring it all in.
I have this going right now… 🙂 Can’t wait!